Paola Longoria and Samantha Salas took another step to winning their 4th US Open Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Doubles title Friday at the 2021 UnitedHealthcare US Open in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as they beat Veronica Sotomayor and Maria Jose Vargas, 15-2, 15-5, in the semi-finals. The win put Longoria into the final for the 7th time at the US Open, and she's won five of her previous six finals.
Alexandra Herrera and Montserrat Mejia will take on Longoria and Salas in the final Saturday, as Herrera and Mejia defeated Valeria Centellas and Natalia Mendez, 15-0, 15-13, in the second semi-final. It will be a rematch of the last two US Open LPRT Doubes finals, which the two teams have split.
Game one of the first semi-final was an example of how dominant Longoria and Salas can be, as their opponents were only in the service box twice. Longoria and Salas went from 4-2 to 15-2 without yielding serve.
Game two was more competitive, but also not close. Sotomayor and Vargas got the first three points, but then gave up seven points to Longoria and Salas. They got two more points to make it 7-5, but that was all they could muster, as the Mexican team of Longoria and Salas held them at the bay. Sotomayor and Vargas did serve three more times, but couldn't score.
Longoria and Salas will play the winner of 2nd seeds Alexandra Herrera and Montserrat Mejia and 3rd seeds Valeria Centellas and Natalia Mendez. Herrera and Mejia are the reigning US Open champions, as they beat Longoria and Salas two years ago.
Herrera and Mejia are the defending US Open LPRT Doubles champions, and they looked every bit intent on defending their title after blanking Centellas and Mendez in game one of the second semi. But then Centellas and Mendez came alive in game two, and took the lead at 6-5.
The champs responded and took the lead back at 9-7. But once again Centellas and Mendez took the lead at 13-9, and they seemed to play a front-back formation with Centellas in front and Mendez in back. Herrera and Mejia called a time out.
A Herrera winner got her side the serve back after the timeout, and they didn't give up the serve in scoring six straight points to win game two, 15-13, and the match in two straight games.
Look for the action via the LPRT YouTube channel, as well as the LPRT Facebook page.
2021 UnitedHealthcare US Open Racquetball Championships
October 6-10, 2021 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
LPRT Doubles - Semi-finals - Friday
1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas d. Veronica Sotomayor & Maria Jose Vargas, 15-2, 15-5
2) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia d. 3) Valeria Centellas & Natalia Mendez, 15-0, 15-13
LPRT Doubles - Final - Saturday
1) Paola Longoria & Samantha Salas v. 2) Alexandra Herrera & Montserrat Mejia - 4 PM
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